anzoid Posted March 3 Share Posted March 3 After finishing my first build based on parts from GuitarBuild.co.uk (https://www.basschat.co.uk/topic/478420-guitarbuildcouk-bass) I decided that I really wanted to do another one - and it's now done - with pictures below. The Spec: Body is lightweight White Limba - it's a softer wood than I had anticipated, it's going to dent quite easily, but I'm generally pretty careful... though have already managed to put one dink in it. Neck is walnut with separate walnut fretboard and abalone dots (I had them do abalone dots on the side too and should have gone with white as they're not as visible as they probably need to be... oh well) Tuners are Hipshot Licensed Ultralights and the bridge is a Hipshot Fender-fit A-style. Pickups are EMG 40TWX (yeah, I know, they're supposed to go in a five string but thought slightly wider would look better and the price was the same - I checked with EMG that they'd be OK with a 4-string and since they're bar magnets in there rather than individual pole pieces it works out fine). The pickups are switchable single-coils/humbuckers with push/pull volume knobs (and active tone control). When the pickups are in single-coil mode, the coils are in the 70s jazz bass position. It's wired up so that you have to pull the volume knobs up to engage the humbuckers, so it's normally just a slightly souped up jazz bass, and then you can kick in some extra thickness. Sound is pretty much what I was looking for. It's not as mid-forward as the previous build but can get some growl going by dialing back the neck pickup a touch. With just the neck pickup on it does a passable P-bass impression, and with just the humbucker on at the bridge it sounds quite aggressive, though not as cutting as a proper Stingray pickup in the right position. Overall - very happy with how it's turned out. Finish is about eight layers of Wudtone clear, it's come up somewhere between satin and gloss, and on the neck I ended up using a scouring pad to get it back towards more or a matte finish. It weighs in at just 3.5kg and there's no neck dive - probably helped by the ultralights at one end and the brass A-style bridge at the other. The Build: As on the previous build, Jasmine and Phil at GuitarBuild.co.uk were wonderful. The routs for the pickups were custom and I sent in one pickup plus the wiring harness so that they could make everything fit - including making sure it was possible to get the rather thick cable through into the control cavity. Attention to detail is great on the bodies and necks they make - the pickup rout even had an indent to account for the connector on the bottom of the pickups - it's kinda chunky. The Photos: 15 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulThePlug Posted March 3 Share Posted March 3 Just reacquainted myself with #1... Again, plain, simple and elegant. Real nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gafbass02 Posted March 3 Share Posted March 3 Really like that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danbowskill Posted March 3 Share Posted March 3 That headstock shape is fantastic 👌 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anzoid Posted March 3 Author Share Posted March 3 2 hours ago, danbowskill said: That headstock shape is fantastic 👌 It's their own headstock shape that is offered when you spec up the neck on the website. Believe it or not, prior to finding them, I had been working on designing my own bass and had come up with something quite similar for the headstock, and when I saw theirs just decided to go with it... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madshadows Posted March 3 Share Posted March 3 That's lovely John 😎 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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